


Anticipation through My Veins

by MouseBouse



Series: There's Something in Your Eyes [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Consent is everything!, First Time, M/M, Making Out, Post-Episode: s01e13 Morning Star, because i can't write smut, blushing/stuttering Alec is back, i guess, not graphic though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-11
Packaged: 2018-06-06 22:08:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6772234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MouseBouse/pseuds/MouseBouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Magnus is invited to the Institute, once again, and Alec spends the night at the loft, once again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the sequel to the [first](6644569) and [second](6711349) dates, so you might want to read those first if you haven’t.
> 
> Mature rating just to be sure, no explicit smut. Or, as my wonderful beta would say, “that is like, the minimum smut in a smut fic I've ever seen.” (It was never meant to be that kind of fic, [of_dreamdust](/users/of_dreamdust)!)
> 
> (My Tumblr is [here](https://mousebouse.tumblr.com).)

“Magnus?” Alec called as he entered the warlock’s apartment. The door was unlocked once again, and he really _should_ ask about that. “Hello?”

There was no reply, but that wasn’t all that unusual – when Magnus was concentrated on a spell or potion, he didn’t pay much attention to his surroundings, something that Alec had already learned the hard way. He had walked in yesterday morning, and Magnus, hearing a distant sound of an intruder and not realizing it was him, had sent a bolt of magic in his direction. The only thing that had kept his head attached to his neck then had been his Shadowhunter reflexes.

He walked into the living room now, but soon stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed thick curtains blocking any sunlight from coming in. Magnus was standing next to the couch, looking down at a body. A dead body. 

Alec moved closer and realized the girl couldn’t have been more than fifteen, and she was a vampire. Probably just a fledgling, given the fresh-looking scars on her lower lip from where she bit through it with her fangs, still inexperienced when it came to controlling them.

Before he could ask anything, Magnus said, “Raphael found her unconscious in front of Dumort. He brought her here since she was badly injured. I tried, but couldn’t do much.”

So the girl wasn’t just vampire-dead. She was _dead_ -dead.

Alec wrapped an arm around the warlock, pulling him closer. “You okay?”

“It was Camille,” Magnus said.

“What was?”

“The girl. She regained consciousness for a few minutes. It was long enough for her to tell me that the woman who turned her said that _she_ ,” he gestured at the lifeless body, “was a gift for me, because _true love never dies_.”

At Alec’s confused expression, Magnus clarified, “ _Amor verus numquam moritur._ The full engraving of Isabelle’s necklace.”

“I thought you said she…”

“Never loved me? She didn’t. But I loved her.”

“How could she have known you’d get the message?” 

“She knows I’m friends with Raphael. It was a safe bet that he’d bring the girl here.”

“Do you know where she was turned?” Alec asked.

“No. But she’d been turned about a week ago, so even if it happened nearby, Camille might not be around anymore,” Magnus responded, leaning into Alec’s side. “We shouldn’t have let her get away.”

“We needed the book. We had to wake up Jocelyn,” Alec reasoned.

“Was it worth it, though?” Magnus wondered aloud. “Was _one spell_ worth getting a girl killed?”

The Shadowhunter assumed Magnus wasn’t expecting an answer, and even if he was, Alec wasn’t sure he had one. So he just hummed and put a kiss to the top of Magnus’s head. They stayed like that for a minute, and then he spoke, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“I’ll get Izzy to ask Meliorn if he heard anything about Camille. It’s a long shot, but if she is still in the City, the Seelies will know.”

 

It took a few days to make sure, but it turned out that the Seelies _didn’t_ know. Or, at least, _Meliorn_ didn’t. Some would argue that Isabelle just hadn’t asked the right questions – Seelies _were_ masters of evasion, after all – but Alec knew better. If his sister couldn’t get the answers they needed, no one could.

So the Camille issues would have to wait for a bit. They had other problems, after all, problems that were bigger than Magnus’s crazy vampire ex. The biggest one being Valentine. The new Shadowhunters he was creating now that he had the Mortal Cup have been causing more and more trouble lately. First, there had been attacks on Downworlders – the two vamps in the middle of Pandemonium (Magnus had not been happy about Circle members being anywhere near his club), the young werewolf near the Jade Wolf (obviously a warning for Luke) – but a couple of nights ago, there had been an attack all the way in India. The Mumbai Institute was targeted and three Shadowhunters were killed before the Clave responded to the SOS call and Valentine’s men retreated. Alec was grateful for the fact that Max had gotten in trouble there and wasn’t anywhere near Mumbai when it happened. 

 

Magnus was once again invited to the New York Institute on official business, instead of personal. Not that he and Alec had spent _personal_ time there since their date the other day.

After dinner with Izzy, Magnus had gone home, saying how he would prefer to wake up with all limbs still attached to his body, which was unlikely if Maryse found him in Alec’s room. Alec had insisted that it was none of her business, and they could use runes and spells to make sure no one would come in, but the warlock couldn’t be persuaded. 

The next day, the Shadowhunter had had breakfast at Magnus’s loft, and it happened again the next day (aka the day of the aforementioned near-decapitation). Yesterday, Alec and Izzy, much to the disapproval of their parents, took Max to Central Park so Isabelle could show him the proper whip-fighting technique, and Magnus joined them, getting another hug from Max, who seemed almost more excited to see the warlock again than to use the electrum whip. (Not that Alec could blame him, of course.) Magnus had asked to see the whip up close, sending a stream of blue toward it. When Izzy asked what he’d done, he’d simply said that he’d given it ‘ _a little extra kick_ ,’ whatever that meant. 

And today, Magnus got a fire message (as if a phone call wouldn’t have been easier) from Robert Lightwood, asking him to come at his earliest convenience, which was Nephilim-speak for _right now_. He walked into the Institute and his field of vision was immediately assaulted by at least two dozen black-leather-wearing, sharp-weapons-wielding Children of the Angel running around, talking loudly over each other. Surprisingly enough, none of them seemed to be paying any attention to him as he moved past them and up the few steps to the hallway to the office.

He knocked on the door, more out of respect for the custom, than that for the Lightwood parents. A voice told him to enter and he did, expecting only Robert and Maryse to be there. Instead, they were joined by Alec, Isabelle, and Clary, the trio dressed in hunting gear, just like all the others he’d seen on his way in. 

“Bane,” Robert inclined his head in way of greeting. Maryse was silent. Izzy wasn’t.

“I don’t know what you did with my whip, but thank you!” She threw her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a hug. 

“I take it you approve of the improvement?” He asked, holding her close. He hadn’t done much, really, just cast a spell he’d heard of a while ago. It caused the weapon to never fail its owner, to bring victory against all odds.

Clary was the one to speak then, “We were surrounded by six demons last night. I was sure we would… But then the whip moved, I swear I didn’t even see Izzy do anything, and half of them were dead. So, yeah, thank you.”

“It was no trouble, biscuit,” he told her and smiled at Isabelle who’d just then released him and moved back to her spot by the window.

Magnus felt heat at his side and turned to see Alec standing there. He hadn’t even heard him move from the other side of the room. It seemed to have been an unconscious movement, like his body had been pulled toward Magnus’s. The warlock brushed his hand down Alec’s arm, a silent _I’m glad you’re here_ , and the Shadowhunter caught it, lacing their fingers together.

“The three of you are free to go,” Robert said, and Clary and Isabelle walked out, but Alec stayed unmoving.

“Your message didn’t say why you needed me here,” Magnus said, turning to Robert.

“I’m sure you’ve heard about Valentine’s recent attack,” he answered, looking pointedly between Magnus and Alec. “We need you to add,” he waved his hand in the air, trying to mimic Magnus’s movements when he did magic, “to our wards.”

Alec cut in before Magnus could reply, “If you’d talked to me before calling Magnus, I could’ve saved him the trip. Building up our wards isn’t necessary.”

“Alec, Valentine has created an army. We need to be protected,” Maryse told him.

“Valentine promised Jace that he wouldn’t hurt us. I don’t think he’ll attack this Institute until the rest of his goals, whatever those might be, are accomplished.”

“Yes, because he is someone who can be trusted to keep his word,” she replied sarcastically.

“Well, you used to trust him, didn’t you?”

As much as Magnus had a flair for the dramatic, the Lightwood family/Circle drama was not something he was interested in at this moment, so he decided to speak before it spiraled out of control.

“You _do_ realize the people you’re trying to fight have the blood of the Angel, right? They can enter the Institute regardless of the wards.”

Maryse replied, “We assumed you would have some kind of a spell that might stop them. You _are_ a High Warlock, are you not?”

Magnus took a deep breath. “I’m a High Warlock, yes, not a god.” He thought about the request for a second. “Such a spell will be very difficult to find, it might take a while. And performing it would most likely require quite a large reimbursement.”

“Nevertheless, we’d appreciate it if you tried. Alec will repay you for your efforts,” Robert said. After a second, he realized how that sentence may have sounded, so he added, “I mean, he is the acting Head of the Institute, the finances go through him.”

“Fine. We’ll look into it,” Alec told his parents before turning to Magnus. “Want me to come with you right now?”

Honestly, Magnus hadn’t expected him to be so open about going to his apartment. Then again, it was probably a part of Alec’s teenage-rebellion-come-late that’s been happening lately. At least that’s what some people would call it. He, as well as Alec, preferred referring to it as choosing-your-own-path. “I’ll portal us,” he said, nodding at Robert and Maryse and leaving the room, Alec close behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

“This has been an eventful week, hasn’t it?” Magnus said as he sat on the couch, happy to be back in his loft. The New York Institute gave him the creeps. (And there wasn’t even a ghost around like at the one in London.)

“It’s been an eventful _month_ is more like it,” Alec replied, taking his jacket off and throwing it over the back of the armchair before moving to sit next to the warlock. “Ever since we met Clary, we can’t seem to catch a break. I know all this crap with Valentine probably would’ve happened even if she wasn’t with us, but…”

“But maybe you wouldn’t have been in the middle of it.”

“Exactly.”

“But you’ve grown quite attached to Clary, haven’t you?”

“Yeah,” Alec admitted. “I didn’t like her at first. I guess I was used to having just Izzy and Jace there, and suddenly there was this new girl who knew nothing about our world, and she was constantly in the way.”

“It wouldn’t have anything to do _with_ Jace, would it?”

The Shadowhunter seemed to think about it for a minute. “I don’t think I was jealous, if that’s what you’re aiming for. I just didn’t like him being reckless because of her. Well, more reckless than usual.”

As he talked, his hand moved to his side, scratching through the T-shirt. Magnus noticed, of course.

“Your _parabatai_ rune?”

Alec nodded. “It’s been acting weirdly. I can’t figure out what’s wrong. Apart from the obvious.” After a moment, he added, “We need to get him back. We need to stop Valentine.”

“Until you do, I’ll find a spell for the wards, as promised,” Magnus assured him.

“You don’t have to, really. I honestly don’t think we’ll need it any time soon. Besides, we’ve got scouts out looking, and Luke has his entire pack searching the City as well. If they’re here, we’ll find them.” He sighed, “I’m just worried.”

“That’s understandable,” the warlock said, “but you can’t put too much pressure on yourself.” When Alec looked at him, eyebrows raised, he added, “Yes, I’m aware that that’s what you always do, but now you really can’t do much until your scouts find them.”

The Shadowhunter leaned against the back of the couch.

“You know, I’ve never wanted to take time off. I mean, I’m a Shadowhunter, fighting is in my blood. I’m used to being out every night, hunting demons or rogue Downworlders or whomever. But right now I’d really like to take a week or two for myself.”

“I have an apartment in Paris you could stay in when that week comes,” Magnus said. “For now, the most I can give you is a night off, if you want to stay here tonight.”

“I might take you up on that offer. You’d have to come with me, though. My French sucks.”

“Alexander, are you inviting me on a romantic getaway in France?” Magnus teased.

“I can’t really kick you out of your own apartment there, can I?” Alec smiled. “But let’s see how this night off goes first,” he said, his hand tracing patterns on the back of Magnus’s suit jacket. “And if you don’t change your mind about searching for that spell for the Institute, we’ll work on that tomorrow.”

 

After a few minutes of silence, Alec spoke again.

“I have a question.” He waited for Magnus to look at him before voicing it. “What’s with your front door?”

Magnus seemed confused. “What do you mean?”

“Is it always unlocked?” He clarified. “Or does it somehow know it’s me?”

The warlock smiled. “It opens for those _pure in heart_.”

“Pretty sure that expression is from the Bible.” Alec said. “Come on, I’m serious.”

“Fine, if you want to ruin the mystery,” Magnus replied. “Yes, the wards are set to allow you to enter. Well, you, and a few other people. Everyone else has to be let in.”

The Shadowhunter hummed in acknowledgement and looked away from Magnus for a moment, debating something.

“ _Why_?” He inquired finally.

“Why what?”

“Why am I one of those who can come in?”

“Why wouldn’t you be? We _are_ dating, Alexander.”

“Yeah, but the door opened for me even before that.”

Magnus shook his head as if to say, _silly Nephilim, you know why_ , and Alec decided to let it go. He _did_ know, after all. He remembered Magnus’s words from a while ago. ‘ _You’ve unlocked something in me._ ’ Apparently, he’d unlocked the front door to his apartment with it.

“Okay, so how many people could walk in at any point?”

“Since you’re already here, only two. Tessa Gray and Catarina Loss. They’re—“

“Warlocks,” Alec supplied. “I know. I saw them when Jace was looking for the one who gave Jocelyn the potion.”

“Precisely. Why do you ask?”

Alec blushed then, for the first time today. He’s been getting much better with that lately. And the whole stuttering situation seemed to have stopped. “Curiosity,” he responded. 

Magnus smirked. “Curiosity? Were you _curious_ to know how many people could interrupt us?”

“Well, I _was_ told to, what was it, ‘ _repay you for your efforts_ ’?” Alec replied, leaning in and kissing Magnus slowly, just a gentle brush of their lips.

The warlock returned the kiss, cupping the other’s face in his hand, his thumb moving across Alec’s cheekbone. He moved back suddenly, chuckling as he rested their foreheads together.

“What?” Alec asked.

“That really _did_ sound inappropriate. But I still expect payment in the form of money for that spell. Gold bars work as well. Silver, platinum. Or jewels. Rubies, emeralds, sapphires, amethysts. Obsidian is a beautiful one,” he trailed off.

Alec didn’t know what to say to that, instead choosing to focus his attention on Magnus’s neck, which was surprisingly necklaceless today. (Maybe he wanted the jewels to make a new one.) He dragged his lips from the hollow of his throat up to his ear, and left a bruise just behind it.

Magnus’s hand found its way into Alec’s hair and he tugged at it, hard, trying to get Alec’s mouth to his again. Alec obeyed, kissing him fiercely and pulling him forward so he was straddling the Shadowhunter’s lap. This gave Magnus a height advantage he thought he’d never have, (and it definitely did _not_ make him think about what it would be like to have Alec on his knees, don't be silly,) but also gave Alec the opportunity to reach Magnus’s neck once again. 

He grazed his teeth over the pulse point, realizing, in the back of his mind, just why vampires had a thing for that specific part of the body. Wow, he was feeling closer to Simon all of a sudden. That sucked. Pun not intended. He bit down on the spot, Magnus letting out a moan from above. Pulling back, he licked his lips and looked at the warlock, only to be greeted by shining yellow eyes closely following the movement of his tongue, before their owner leaned in, repeating that movement with his own. It was Alec’s turn to moan, and his hands gripped the small of Magnus’s back, pulling him closer.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you all for reading! ^^ :D
> 
> (A pat on the back for anyone who notices the tiny Troye Sivan reference in this chapter.)

Truth be told, Alec had no idea what he was doing. He was acting almost completely on instinct, closely watching Magnus's reactions when he kissed his neck or when his hand moved up his thigh and coming up with what to do from there. Still, despite being inexperienced when it came to being this physically close to someone, he knew where it was headed. And unlike on their first date, when the thought had made him slightly uncomfortable, tonight it... well, it made his _jeans_ feel uncomfortable, let's just say that.

“Bedroom?” Alec asked as he pushed Magnus up off his lap and stood up next to him. “ _Bedroom_ ,” he said more decisively, leaving a trail of kisses across the warlock’s jaw, his hands rough on Magnus’s hips as he pushed him toward the door.

Magnus kissed him, tongue teasing and teeth scraping, and when they reached the bed, Alec pulled away briefly to pull his shirt off and push Magnus’s suit jacket to the floor before diving back in with his lips and rolling his hips into Magnus’s, coaxing moans out of both of them. Alec turned them around, his legs hitting the end of the bed, and he let himself fall back, pulling the other on top of him.

The warlock instructed him to move further up, and as soon as Alec’s head hit the pillows, Magnus lowered his own, his tongue tracing Alec’s Deflect rune, his teeth nipping at it. When he reached its end, he sucked on the Shadowhunter’s collarbone, and the latter’s hand gripped Magnus’s hair, the other one moving down to his ass, pulling him even closer.

Magnus trailed kisses down Alec’s chest until he reached the Agility rune, giving it the same treatment the other one had received. Moving back up, he put his lips to Alec’s, the Shadowhunter sighing. 

Alec’s hands moved to unbutton Magnus’s shirt, shaking slightly, but not enough for it to be a problem. He pushed the shirt off and threw it to the floor, his fingers itching to just reach out and touch, so he let them. He moved his hands across the warlock’s back, across his chest, his stomach, he traced the waistband of his trousers, and then repeated all of it, reveling in the feeling. Oh, yes, Alec definitely liked where this was headed.

They were still kissing, passionately, heatedly, filthily, Alec’s hips thrusting up and Magnus’s pushing down every so often, both of them barely breathing, their hearts racing.

Soon, it wasn’t enough. Alec reached for the front of Magnus’s pants, unbuttoning them. As he moved to the zipper, a hand gripped his wrist.

“Alexander,” Magnus breathed, pulling back. “Are you sure about this?”

Alec rolled his eyes at that and went to kiss the warlock again, and continue what he was trying to do, but he was stopped again. 

“Darling, this won’t work if you don’t talk to me.” Magnus nipped at the Shadowhunter’s jaw as he waited for him to compose himself enough to speak.

Alec looked at him, pupils blown wide, lips red, cheeks flushed. “Magnus, I’m sure, okay? I want this.”

“Wanting something and being _ready_ to have it are two very different things,” Magnus pointed out, moving so he was straddling Alec’s hips, his hands stroking the Shadowhunter’s sides. 

“I know that, compared to an immortal warlock, everyone is basically a baby,” Alec teased, “but I _am_ mature enough to make a decision.”

“I understand that, I’m simply trying to make sure you don’t regret that decision later on.”

Alec used his years of combat training to catch Magnus off guard and roll them over so he was on top. He kissed Magnus between words, “Magnus. Please. Stop. Worrying.” He bit the warlock’s lip then, hard, causing the other’s hips to thrust up. “Unless… Do _you_ not want to?” He asked, suddenly unsure.

It was Magnus’s turn to roll his eyes. “I think we’ve established that _wanting_ wasn’t the problem,” he said, once again tracing the rune on his neck, this time with his finger, and Alec cocked his head to the side to give him better access. “Just promise me—“

“I’ll tell you if I need to stop,” Alec finished for him. “I know.” He leaned down, gently kissing the mark he’d left on his boyfriend’s neck earlier.

“One more question,” Magnus said.

Alec groaned as he raised his head. “You’re killing the mood here, babe.”

The warlock chuckled. “I’ll bring it back, don’t worry,” he winked.

“Okay, what?”

“Do you only want to have sex because of Valentine’s attacks?” At Alec’s puzzled expression, he clarified, “Is it just because either one of us might die at any moment?”

“ _Really_ killing the mood,” Alec replied. “And no. My life is in danger pretty much every night. That has nothing to do with this, I promise.” He sucked on Magnus’s lip for a moment before kissing down his chest, paying special attention to the spot where his bellybutton should be. Also, did Magnus work out? Because _damn_ , those abs looked even better than the last time he'd seen them!

His mouth reached the zipper that he’d tried undoing earlier and he looked up at the warlock. “Are you done trying to get me to change my mind?”

The smirk on Magnus’s lips and the snap of his fingers that caused them to reverse positions again were answer enough.

***

The next morning, Alec was woken up by the insistent sound of a ringtone. He groaned, desperately wanting to ignore it, and nuzzled into the back of Magnus’s neck, tightening his hold around the warlock’s waist.

“Please answer your phone, Alexander,” Magnus mumbled into the pillow.

“Don’t want to,” the Shadowhunter grumbled. 

“If you ever want to repeat last night’s activities, you will,” Magnus replied, turning to face him. He could just silence the damn thing with magic, but teasing Alec was much more fun.

“Pretty sure you liked those activities as much as I did, you can’t threaten me with that,” Alec retorted, finally opening his eyes and frowning at the brightness in the room trying to blind him. He kissed Magnus briefly before turning around and dragging his hand over the floor until he found his jeans. Pulling the phone out, he checked the caller ID and smiled as he answered. “Hey, Iz.”

“We found them!” Isabelle screamed in lieu of greeting.

Alec frowned at the loudness. “Who?”

“Valentine and Jace. We know where they are. The Clave is organizing an attack on the army.”

“Give me five minutes,” he said and hung up, already getting out of bed. “Did you hear that?” 

“I heard,” Magnus replied, sitting up and looking at Alec as the latter pulled his boxers on. “Do you need me to portal you to the Institute?”

“Yeah, thanks,” the Shadowhunter answered, and continued getting dressed. When he was done, he glanced at Magnus, who was looking at him worriedly. “What?”

“Be careful,” the warlock said.

“I will,” Alec promised, going around the bed and leaning down to kiss him. “I’m sorry, but I really need to go.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Magnus said as he stood up and snapped his fingers, clothes – much plainer than his usual ensembles – appearing on his body.

“I just—isn’t it—“ Apparently, the stuttering was back. “Shouldn’t we talk about, you know…?”

“You were much more able to articulate what you wanted last night,” Magnus teased, and the Shadowhunter’s cheeks turned pink. “You’re in a rush, so the conversation will have to be brief.” He stroked Alec’s cheek with the back of his hand. “I enjoyed last night very much and would love to experience it again, possibly in various other rooms of this apartment. What about you?”

“ _Magnus_!” Seeing the warlock’s smirk, Alec replied, “I enjoyed it, too.” Leaning in to kiss him, he whispered, “Really, _really_ enjoyed it.”

The kiss didn’t last long, though, as Magnus pushed him away. Seeing Alec’s confused expression, he said, “You’re needed at the Institute, remember?” He then waved his hands around the air, conjuring a Portal. “Once again, be careful.”

“Once again, I will.” Before he stepped through, he turned around. “Actually…”

“Hmmm?”

“I know I don’t have the right to ask this,” he started nervously. “I know it’s too much, it’s dangerous, but—“

“Alec. You know I’ll say yes,” Magnus assured him, already knowing what the other wanted.

Alec shook his head. “You don’t have to just because of, you know, _us_.”

“Alexander, ask me.”

“Will you come with me? Valentine’s army is strong, we need all the help we can get.” Alec shrugged as he added, “And we already fought that Circle member together and did well.”

“Your arrow pierced his _leg_. I was the one to deal the final blow.”

“I let you have that one. He killed your kind, you deserved to get revenge,” Alec explained.

“Or maybe I’m just a better fighter than you, darling,” Magnus teased, earning yet another eye-roll from the Shadowhunter.

“Sure you are, _babe_ ,” Alec said, intertwining their fingers before they stepped through the Portal and into an uncertain battle together.


End file.
